Review: Love Between Fairy and Devil (Dylan Wang and Esther Yu)

I have already watched Immortal Samsara and Love Like The Galaxy, these dramas were topping charts in the last months. I can’t talk about them without mentioning Love Between Fairy and Devil. I call these dramas the ‘magnificent three’, must watch projects for all historical drama lovers. Today’s review is about Love Between Fairy and Devil starring Dylan Wang and Esther Yu.

First Impressions.

First episode ended way too fast or was I enjoying the story? There weren’t those time wasting scenes to extend the duration of the episode, they just went straight to the point. Dylan Wang once again proves why he’s one of the best, if not the greatest. I laughed my lungs out when they switched bodies, his facial expression made the whole scene realistic. I’m not familiar with Esther Yu, I’ll see how it goes with her but I’m not impressed with the voice for her character.

Five episodes were enough to see where the story is heading. It’s an interesting story to watch. A powerful Devil who’s under the spell of a powerless Fairy who isn’t even aware of the spell. He has to follow her every command to achieve his personal goal. There’s also a Fairy who is a heroine to the Fairy realm and also a threat to the Devil. She has disappeared for 30 000 years. It might sound or look like they don’t have anything mind blowing to offer but there’s more to the story than what meets the eye. The story can take any direction, many plots can be generated from what they’ve already showed us.

Story.

The story is nothing but amazing. The writers really know how to tell a story. They give you something to hold onto and suddenly they shower you with surprises. The fairy and moon realm story is nothing compared to the mortal realm story. There are lots of plot twists and characters begin to grow on you. The whole mortal realm story sounded like it was no rocket science.

I thought it will just be a quick visit to the realm and then we go back to the main storyline but I’m no prophet. When they began to prepare the mortal world plot, they revealed the whole plot which got me worried a little bit. Keeping everything to yourself builds suspense and then unexpected moments makes the story more interesting.

With the mortal world plot, I was impressed especially with the main leads getting involved in others fate and they do their best to rectify their mistakes. You have two fairies/immortals who are experiencing hardships at the mortal world and are fated to fall in love that day but then out leads ruined everything. This is the part where I began to respect the writers, I take my hat off for them! We already knew what was supposed to happen, how the two fated couple was supposed to fall in love and everything went according to what we knew.

While I was watching, praying for Mr right to arrive in time… boom! Surprise, surprise dear viewer! I don’t want to leave spoilers here, watch the drama if you want to know what I’m talking about. As the story finally reaches it’s resolution stage, it became more interesting and I failed to predict the future. The sequencing of events was creative in a way that you will go back to rewatch previous episodes just to confirm what’s happening on the current scene.

Each and every scene and dialogue is very important if you want to understand the full story. They would mention something like Dongfang Qingcang having a sister for example, and act like they never brought the topic up then the sister would appear ten episodes later. They used the ‘long term storyline’ method which did wonders, the story would’ve been trash if they used an opposite approach.

Characters.

Dongfang Qingcang is the star of the show, not just because he’s the main lead. His character carried the whole drama, I’m sure the crew put more efforts on him. I mean, he had one of the best costumes and fighting gear which was badass. He had more transformation than any other character.

Let’s talk about the man behind the character, Dylan Wang. Comparing his performance in Miss the dragon and his performance in this drama, I see a huge improvement. You know, Dylan Wang was ‘good’ in Miss the dragon and did receive positive reviews. On Love Between Fairy and Devil, he upgraded his skills, the facial expressions, the way he presents the character on screen and the way he talked were on a different level. Since he was playing a cold character, facial expressions and gestures should be on point and he delivered. You could tell when he was jealous, angry, happy, sad and in love. I’m pretty sure he was spending hours practicing at home in front of the mirror.

I have mixed feelings about Orchid, not Esther Yu. She gave me the ‘cliche female lead’ vibes and I thought they will soon change some of her traits. She is built different, brave, loyal to her home, smart but a pushover just like most female leads. She brought light to the drama with her carefree personality.

Her character needed development but ended up not needing it, that’s why I’m saying I’m having mixed feelings about her. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m talking about the character not the one behind the character. The Orchid character should’ve been developed around the first 20 episodes. She was starting to go outside her comfort zone, experiencing hardships and stuff like that which are usually used as keys to unlock the true form of a character.

They missed their chance there and she became something unique. Orchid experienced everything without any character development to a point where it was unnecessary to reveal her true identity. After learning about her identity, she becomes a different person but I wasn’t convinced. She was already at the peak of the mountain when her character changed.

It’s like trying to renovate a house that no longer needs a makeover. Her character wasn’t used well after the character development, because they already let Orchid do what the Goddess had to do. Esther Yu was awesome especially when she imitated Dongfang Qingcang. This was actually my first time watching her work.

Changheng may be the third wheel but he contributed a lot to the main leads. I mean, His life at the mortal world and going against his own clan because of their oppression. He’s no different from Yumo from Immortal Samsara, a perfect tool to make the male lead look good. I never thought Daying would become an important character in the drama. From the beginning, she was portrayed as one of those extra characters who would vanish after two episodes but she became a huge asset. When I think about it, She and Dongfang Qingcang were the only people who were able to change the fate of their loved ones. They are the only people who saw the prediction of their loved one’s future and both of them changed their fates.

Chemistry.

I would be lying if I the chemistry between the main leads wasn’t enough. Their first encounter and the heart connecting spell laid a good foundation. It then escalated quickly when the fairy fooled around and Dongfang Qingcang doing everything for her to get the destiny book. They sacrificed a lot for the other one and went extra mile to make their relationship work. Shangque and Jieli were an additional couple who needed more built up. I could see the love they have for each other but it didn’t connect with me emotionally. To me, they were there to support the main leads along the way.

My complains about the drama.

From the beginning of the drama, they’ve been talking about the powerful Goddess who could bring down Dongfang Qingcang. Everyone talked about her as if she was very powerful, but we got a weak version. She didn’t come out as the Goddess people talked about. I understand the whole ‘she just returned’ story but she was still weak even after unlocking her power. Dongfang Qingcang was also not used well as a powerful fighter. He mastered a new ancient technique which was never used.

Another complaint is also related to the fights. The war between Fairies and Moon tribe was something I looked forward to, it had a crazy built up. I was disappointed by the usage of sandstorm, I couldn’t see the fights clearly.

Ending.

Was the ending good? Definitely. For a moment they had me thinking we will have second season because of what happened during the last battle. Many puzzles got solved and they even explained some events I didn’t take serious. I didn’t know the additional meaning behind Orchid touching Dongfang Qingcang’s tree in his sea of heart. I wasn’t fully satisfied because some events didn’t happen the way I expected them to be like Orchid never confronted the murderer of her clan. That would’ve been a scene to watch.

Conclusion.

I now know why most of you say Love Between Fairy and Devil is the best historical drama in 2022. I wouldn’t jump before the beat starts this drama is definitely the best. There’s no dragging, they do their best cover everything in 3 to 4 episodes and move to the next plot. The cast was amazing, the relationship between Dongfang Qingcang and Shangque and also the music. Recommended? Absolutely! You won’t lose anything. I’m giving Love Between Fairy and Devil a rating of 9/10, such an amazing project.